SHARE
COPY LINK

AIRLINE

Bird strike forces plane to turn back

A passenger plane carrying 104 passengers was forced back to base in Trondheim shortly after take-off on Thursday morning following a collision with a large bird.

Bird strike forces plane to turn back
Remains of the bird on the wing of the Norwegian plane. Photo: Kristine Askvik/Scanpix

Passengers on the Norwegian plane, which was on its way to Bergen, heard a large thud when the bird hit one of the wings. The captain said he believed it was an eagle. The collision left a large hold on the back side of the plane’s left wing.

“There’s a hole in the wing on the left side and the remains of a bird in the engine opening. They said over the tannoy that it was an eagle, but I’m really not completely sure,” passenger Kristine Askvik told Bergens Tidende newspaper.

Norwegian said it remained unclear what kind of bird it was, other than that it was large.

“The plane hit a large bird during takeoff and went back to Værnes [Trondheim Airport], which is standard procedure in this kind of event,” Norwegian spokesman Lasse Sandaker-Nielsen said.

It was not immediately clear how long the plane would be grounded. 

“Our engineers are examining the aircraft. We have not yet received feedback on how long the repairs will take,” Sandaker-Nielsen said.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.